Missing Nobody
by SilverTale
Summary: They were all supposed to forget. After he merged with his other self, no one was supposed to remember Roxas. Sometimes though there are holes in every good system. Holes that leave people remembering the missing nobody... Pleases review. Rated teen just in case.
1. Chapter 1

_T__he whole town was in disarray. Everyone was looking for the boy that they couldn't seem to recall. Hayner, Olette and Pence seemed to feel lost. Picture frames held pictures that seemed to have lost something even though no one remembered what it was. Seifer, Fuu, and Rai seemed to feel the gap too. It seemed like it had happened recently but all they had was a lingering feeling of loss and familiarity. What bothered the teens most is the fact that no one except the people who the missing person seemed to be closest to, noticed that there was something missing._

Seifer

Normally I antagonize Hayner's little group every day. We have to keep him and his little gang in check; it is our responsibility as the disciplinary committee of our fair town. Truth be told though, lately I can't even stand to look at the chickenwuss and his little group. They are just fragments, ghosts, empty shells of the loud mouth brats they used to be. I don't know who it was but their "friend" deserves to get socked in the face. The only person who has the right to tease any of them would be me. It's my right as the protector of this town to look after the people and as much as I loathe admitting it, those guys fall under the category of "people".

"Help. Sad. Loss." Fuu gave me a stern look letting me know that I had no hope of wiggling out of talking to them.

"Even I know they need help yo." I glared at Rai. If he had backed me up I may have been able to put it off at least a little longer. Talking to those idiots was not an idea I relished.

"I know we should talk to them. You both know how I feel though, I don't exactly like those twerps." I sighed and leaned back against the wall and looked at the sky. "Even if I don't like it, I will go talk to them, though they need someone to whip them back into shape. Getting them out of this little mope spell might even shake us out of our own little downward spell here."

"Go." Fuu nodded in the direction of the group who had just been lazing about looking broken, waiting for the tram. Every day the trio made the trip to the lookout on the outskirts of town and watched the trains. Like a wartime widow waiting for the husband that would never return. Hayner was always the last one to leave; it seemed that Pence and Olette seemed to have found a little comfort in each other. Hayner with no one to cling to just stared off into the distance until it got too late for him to be out anymore. Even if his mother had noticed, she probably would have enjoyed his misery.

"When the other two leave I want you guys to talk to them. I'm gonna stay and try to get Hayner to perk up on my own. He hates me but I suppose, other than the nobody who left them, I would be the closest thing to a friend he has right now." As much as I hated to admit it, we had wound up fighting all of the time but in a way that was how we balanced each other out. Hayner and I fought constantly but in my mind that little action in its own right was a strange, broken sort of friendship.

"We got this yo. They gonna be perkier than an intern hopped up on coffee!" Fuu smacked Rai and nodded in the direction of the street Pence and Olette always used to get back to their houses. As the two walked off preparing to help the shattered friends, I couldn't help but think to myself. "_How the hell am I going to do this?"_

Hayner

It was just a nagging feeling that we had. Every day we all felt the urge to sit and wait. Like someone was missing… but they would be back soon. A person we couldn't remember, who had been there through the best and the worst of times. I seemed to feel it more than the rest of them. I must have been closer to whoever it was than they were. That's not to say that we weren't all affected by them being gone. Pence and Olette had found a way to deal with it on their own though. They found comfort with each other, they were interested in each other before this whole thing happened but the pain of loss seemed to close the gap even more. They spent every waking moment together; they shared classes and had the same homeroom. They lived right next to each other so after leaving the house they barely had to put any effort into staying together throughout the day. I on the other hand had a different class, lived on the other end of town and only saw them when leaving school.

I had no one. The loss stung even more when the loss of my friends was added to it. It seems that whoever left held us together in a way that we couldn't manage without them. I always end up thinking like this here now, and I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice the person sneaking up behind me. By the time I did he was practically on top of me. It was Seifer. Alone.

"Stop moping around. You're a fighter, not a damsel in distress. You need to get angry at the person who left you, not sit around hoping that you'll hear from someone who you don't even rightly remember." Seifer had two struggle bats in hand. Apparently he had given this a little thought. I was impressed even if I did hate the guy.

"I will do whatever I want. You may push around the town but you have no right to control my feelings and even if you did its not like people just suddenly become happy when you tell them to." I turned away. He didn't deserve to push me around, he had no right. I never beat him, sure, but I wasn't going to roll over and be his plaything either.

"Well since you feel that way." Seifer threw himself forward, throwing the extra bat in the air and charging in for a quick attack. I dodged him and grabbed the struggle bat out of the air.

"You fell for it. I can control you and now I want you to stop. Get a hold of your emotions, pick yourself up and get the fuck over it." Seifer glared down at me "Now fight me. It's been a while since I got to beat the crap out of you and I'm feeling a bit bored at the moment. Set down the bat and I'll keep going anyways. There is no way you're getting out of this."

To prove his point Seifer charged in swinging like a madman. He wasn't trying to hit me with that little tactic, just trying to get me to react. I wish I could say that I didn't fall for it. That he didn't win, that I was in control of myself entirely and that he had no pleasure in seeing me do just what he wanted. I was never a good liar though, so I will admit I rose to the challenge. Maybe hitting him in the head a few times would help me feel better. Help me get over whatever it was that was bothering me, just like when we were kids.

Seifer made the first move. He charged in at me and changed his direction to move behind me so he could swing around and get a hit in from behind. I reacted quickly enough to roll out of the way and swing at the feet of my rival. Seifer jumped back and charged in again this time feinting to the left and ducking to swipe at ground and my feet. I almost dodged him but then, I tripped into Seifer, Knocking us both over, and ended up falling right next to him on the grass and just laying there.

"It's good to see you still got some fight in you." Seifer looked into my eyes. "You owe me big time though for having to deal with all this mushy crap." Seifer punched me in the arm, got up and started to walk away. "See you at school tomorrow, lamer. Be in a better mood though or I won't hold back next time."

Seifer

Seeing Hayner come back to life was almost worth having to deal with the mushy, gushy feeling crap today. Hopefully it stuck because once was too much for me. It reminded me of when we were children. We were always close but we tried to be more macho than the other. I, of course, being the finely chiseled, exemplary embodiment of a man that I am, had no problems besting Lamer. He always used to act tough and start fights with me but we got along. Then it happened, the one thing we could never look past. My father the arrogant jerk that he was thought he was the worlds gift to women. He seduced anyone with boobs and … lady parts. Hayner's dad was in the army fighting, so his mother had been left home all alone. She was getting, shall we say, needy?

My father had been going over there to have adult meetings for a while and none of us had figured it out. Hayner and I had been playing outside during one of their meetings when Hayner's dad came home from the war. He walked right up to Hayner and they started to talk about how they missed each other and all of that crap. Hayner's dad finally wandered inside, we could hear the screaming from my yard on the other side of the street. His dad ran out and walked back the way he came as Hayner's mom, with a blanket wrapped around her, sobbed and begged for him to come back.

At first we didn't have much of a change in our lives Hayner was upset, but he started to work through it. It didn't take long for things to change though. His mom came to blame the whole household for what had happened. Everyday Hayner would come to school "you're a mistake, your mother never had you it was probably some girl at the bar. Your dad can't keep away from anything he can screw". Slowly things like that started to come from Hayner and the gap between us started to grow. Also, my mother found out and left me with my father. She said she couldn't look at me because she would think of the monster that made me. She should have thought of her son, leaving me with the very same monster was not the best thing for me. I mean I turned out all right but that because I had Fuu.

In one fell swoop my father had destroyed two families and a friendship. Hayner, at the time, was the only one who would put up with me, so I became violent and resentful towards anyone who had a normal life. Fights and detention started to become the new norm for me. Fuu and Rai moved into town a year later and the three of us, with nowhere else to turn, started to spend time together. Eventually Fuu whipped me back into shape but by that point no one wanted anything to do with me and my only other friend wanted me dead more than anything else.

To make matters worse, our parents started to self-destruct. My father started to hide himself away from the world. He became a recluse barely eating, or functioning at all. In fact he couldn't give a rats ass about me in any way shape or form. It's because of this that I had to leave; I got my own apartment a little ways down the road. My father didn't even notice I was gone. Without him to remind me of the past, the future is what I make of it. Hayner's mother on the other hand got much worse. After work every day she would come home and hit the bottle. She turned her rage on men in general by the time he was in junior high and it only got worse from there. In fact every night I can hear the two of them fighting, she's become so angry with what happened she's even turned her rage toward her son. She even gets a little violent with him when he gets home. She's never actually hit him, but if the screams and sound of shattered glass are anything to go by, she usually comes pretty close. Which I have to say is good for her because I wouldn't let something like that happen under my watchful eye. She would never get away with hurting him.

Now there's also the fact that he had to face being broken again, having another person who mattered to him just up and leave. I have to be honest here; it's for that reason that I hate the other person for leaving. Hayner has so few good things in his life, it's a miracle he's even fought to make it this far. To just up and leave someone like that is cruel, this person better have had a damn good reason.

Hayner

When I got home my mother was in her usual spot. Sitting hunched over the kitchen table, hair all over her face, glaring at the door. "Sleeping around, are you? You should know better, I oughta cut it off if you think you can act like that dick across the street." My mother had turned her hate towards all men after that day. She believed they wanted to sleep with everything they could see or they married just to say that they had. She thought that the ones who married wanted to run away, that all men were cowards, that we had no hope of being loved because we didn't deserve it. I know it isn't true, but after hearing it for so long you begin to doubt yourself.

"I was doing homework at the library, mom, I swear." I gave her the same excuse night after night but she drank so much she always forgot by the next morning. "We started a project today and I wanted to get a head start on it." Our parts are always the same. She always says, "What is it about how men are good for nothing except misery?" She throws the bottle of whatever she has at me and spends the next few hours going through her opinion of men. Every night I rise to the challenge even though I know I shouldn't.

"Men are good for nothing except running with their tails between their legs like the worthless dogs they are. The only reason they come home at all is because they can't get anyone to look at them and they know that they're families will. The only do what they feel like doing."

"If that were true I would have left long ago, Mom. The only thing you're good for is your fish impression, gasping for air in the bottom of the nearest bottle." We always end up arguing like this and running around screaming until she gets so fed up with me she goes to bed. Luckily, I only have to see her at night. She sleeps all day so I get out of the house before she even opens her eyes, and she just restarts the whole thing.

As I turn in bed I think about the missing nobody. No one remembers anything about them. No name, house, picture, nothing. I would have thought I was going crazy if Pence and Olette hadn't had the same problem. Then my mind started to drift to Seifer, thinking of all the weird contests we would do as kids. Who can climb this tree faster or who can throw these rocks further, stupid things like that. As kids we were always together. Seifer's mom would watch me while my mother worked and Seifer was seen as an extension of the family. I wish it had been different. Over the years I had forgiven him but he was distant, he wanted nothing to do with me except to fight. He always had to push me to my limits. Today was different though. He seemed to be genuinely concerned. With him though you never know sometimes he acts nice but only to make you fall for some trick. As I started to drift off for the night he was the only thing on my mind, and for the first time in a while I was happy.

Seifer

I woke up and started to get ready for school, taking a quick cold shower, grabbing my beanie, and putting on my clothes. I actually looked forward to today. I hated school don't get me wrong but I always liked being the big fish. All of the other kids stayed clear of me. I was a punk who they didn't want to screw with. I liked that feeling of power it made me feel strong, Manly, macho, like the big cheese. Even the teachers would avoid me. If they had to call on someone in class they skipped over me, if there was a problem they would just let me handle it. After all I am the head of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Squad. I can't let people behave like animals, I beat the crap out of anyone who does.

Today, I decided that I was going to wait to walk to school around the same time Hayner did. I wanted to make sure he was doing all right. I didn't care for him or anything because that wouldn't be anything like me. I do have to admit that I was getting sick of his private pity-party though.

Just as I stepped out the door I heard a sharp inhalation of breath. I turned to see Fuu and Rai standing there waiting.

" Yo, why are you leaving so late?" I couldn't help but wonder why they had waited for me.

"Why are you still here? Shouldn't you have left? Waiting for me is going to get you in trouble. As the head of the disciplinary squad I'm the only who can break rules."

"Fuu told me to leave late today. She said you were going to be late coming out. When I asked her how she knew she just said 'Predictable'".

Even I was a little shocked that she had guessed that I would leave late. I didn't even know until this morning. I always wonder what goes on in her head. She never really says anything but she always seems to know. Her eyes are always watching and she knows most of the people in this town like the back of her hand. In my case, she probably guessed that I couldn't sleep last night.

"Late." Fuu grabbed me and pulled me outside while pushing Rai in front of her. She had never been late to school. You wouldn't know it by looking at her, but Fuu put school above almost all else. Her family had ingrained her with the belief that she had to go to college and find some way to overcome her speech. Rai on the other hand only ever showed up early because Fuu did. He never cared for school and his grades mirrored that.

"I forgot something, Fuu you take Rai and go on without me. I'm going catch up later." She shook her head and smiled, which by the way means, if you fight I am going to bury you.

"Left early." she pointed ahead to a boy skateboarding down the street rushing to school like he did every morning. Although for once he seemed like he was holding his head high. I guess I did help him out after all. Just the thought of helping my old friend brought a smile to my face. Rai just gave me a puzzled look and shook his head. He knew not to ask though it always blew over and things settled back into the hum drum routine.


	2. Chapter 2

Hayner

Since I'm feeling a little better, I'm actually looking forward the struggle competition again. It has a lingering feeling of despair, but thanks to Seifer, I've seen that I can't just wait for life to prop itself up. I can't wait around in my castle for a prince.

First things first, I'm going to get Pence and Olette to spend more time with me. After the whole missing incident you could barely even call us friends.

As I hurry through the hall of the school I start to notice a theme.

No one is looking at me or even talking to me. I guess I must have pushed them all away when I was moping. I made my way to my homeroom, and only then realized that I had shown up early for the first time in months. I decided to go see Pence and Olette, so I dropped my stuff off at my desk and made my way down the hall to their homeroom.

"Hey, Pence, how are you doing?"

Pence turned slowly, it had been a while since I had actually sounded this upbeat. When he realized it was sincere, a smile spread across his face.

"Good! Now that you seem to be less depressed. I could even say great. We were worried that you wouldn't pull yourself out of the dark hole you had thrown yourself in."

We hugged, which felt nice. It had been a while since anyone had even gotten near me, let alone hugged me. Come to think of it even, Seifer was leaving us alone.

"Yeah, well, Seifer made me realize that I was being an idiot. I hate owing that guy, but he did help me figure out what my problem was." Olette sat up at the mention of Seifer. She was next to us, pretending to study, but I knew she was actually listening.

"Wow, Seifer? Seriously, dude, you better be careful. You never know what he's going to want in return for that little stunt."

I didn't like the idea of doing some twisted task all that much but I couldn't think of a good comment to make back to Pence. "Well, anyways, I have to get going. I have to get to class before the bell rings."

As I made my way back to my homeroom, I couldn't help but wonder what twisted little plot he may have going on in his head right now. I also had to get my grades back up before the end of the semester. To top things off I had Seifer in my class this year. As kids he was always a grade ahead of me but when his mother left he got held back because he started so many fights. As I sat down, looking over my shoulder at Seifer's now occupied desk, I couldn't help but think to myself... _how the hell am I going to get through this?_

Seifer

I could see the turnaround in him pretty quickly. He spent the whole day raising his hand, taking notes, chatting with the other students. No one really wanted to talk to him yet, but they weren't rude enough to just blow him off entirely either. He seemed to be striving to get back to the perfect student with all the friends in the world. I envied him. Don't get me wrong, having Fuu and Rai around is great, but I could never be comfortable surrounding myself with all of those people.

I figured now that he was out of his slump at the very least I could take advantage of it. Maybe try to struggle with him more often. I always liked to act like he was my own personal beating bag, but truth is those moment mattered more to me then I may have realized. I never even noticed that he was the only one I had consistently picked on until this point.

Fuu noticed that I wasn't paying attention and leaned over. "Stop thinking."

Once again she had seen the root of my problems. I can't help it though. It kind of bothered me that I harassed one person, just _one_ person for all of these years. I mean, yeah, I picked on his friends, but it was always him I seemed to be after.

Fuu, at this point, realized that I didn't listen. She leaned over and cuffed me in the back of the head.

That's her warning. It said, "You had better listen this time. I don't like repeating myself." I looked down at the book we were supposed to be studying from.

Today's lesson was on the founding of Twilight Town, how we settled in and how some of our traditions started up. Rather than listen to something I already knew, I just put my head down and took a nap. I was still short on sleep after all and it's not like the teacher was going to say anything new. Most of them just seemed to regurgitate the books they assigned like well-trained parrots.

My dream was pleasant. I was sitting in my usual spot in the square, screaming at the brats who broke the rules. We got some ice cream and talked about the past. How things were when they first moved into town and when we first met, stuff like that. Fuu smiled but tried to hide it behind her ice cream and Rai just got lost in thought.

Hayner walked in the square with his best friends. Pence talking a million miles an hour to Olette, while she was trying to study for some test while talking to Pence about how she needed to focus. Then there was one more person. They were sore of fuzzy like a blurred out picture or a damaged file on a computer. I couldn't see the person, but I didn't really care. I didn't really care about any of them.

The only person that caught my attention was Hayner acting all cocky and full of himself. I made a beeline for my rival. After all, no one even stood a chance aside from him, and if I was the only one he practiced with, then I would logically improve whenever he did.

The rest of the dream was just a strange slow motion kind of struggle. I could see everything he was doing, and had the time to react. He never got a hit in and I landed his sorry ass on the ground within seconds.

I loved it.

The feeling of control you have when you're winning - the feeling of being powerful. I was about to make a witty remark about how manly I was, when a sharp pain to the back of my head woke me up.

I was still a little groggy but when I looked up and saw Hayner with a satisfied look on his face. My day was ruined. He had the same look I did in my dream.

"Up all night beating up the bad guys in town, Mr. Disciplinary Squad Captain? I don't imagine you were up studying." He laughed to himself.

While I admit my grades aren't the best, I also take pride in the fact that I haven't failed anything. I don't pay attention at school but I keep up with the bookwork, and have been able to keep at least a B in my classes.

"Maybe I was waiting to climb through your window and beat you up for yesterday. Although, honestly, I was studying, one of the neighborhood kids said that we had several new projects this week. About one a day in fact…"

He had never noticed how loud he was when he would lie to his mother. Every night I could hear enough of their fight to write a book on insults to drunks and a completely different one on insults to men. Never mind the fact that I lived three houses down from them.

He just seemed shocked, like someone had broken some little piece of privacy. I didn't care, it isn't my fault they let the whole street in on their soap opera drama. I turned away and started to pack up my stuff. The day was over, and it wasn't worth being here anymore. Hayner wasn't going to let me get away without an apology though.

"You have no right to listen to those conversations." His face turned red from anger.

Luckily, he wasn't the type to make the first move without a ton of "motivation" from someone. Namely, me sitting there and saying things he didn't want to hear. Instead though, I found myself thinking, 'let's have some fun.' If I apologize he won't know what to do. Maybe I can even get him to fight me later. It's been a while and I need to stay limber if I'm going to wipe the floor with the people of this town in the struggle match, including Setzer.

Before I said or did anything though, Hayner turned around and said "Let's just meet in the square later and fight this out with struggle bats. It's been a long day and whether I like to admit it or not, everything pissed me off. Then he just walked off.

Fuu had been watching from the doorway. For once she looked just as confused as I was about the whole thing.

Guess she thought he had just gone back to himself entirely too.

Hayner

As I walked towards the trams after school, I started to think about how angry everyone made me and how things had been lately. I can admit that I haven't been the best person to be around. I can also admit that I didn't have a whole lot of close friends but I still can't believe them.

I spent the day acting like they all thought I should, all happy and carefree. Truth be told though, I wasn't. I was almost back to normal but it bothered me that everyone assumed I would go from depressed to completely normal in 2.2 seconds. Seifer was the only one not walking on eggshells. He acted the same as he always did, like he knew that being babied would just piss me off even more. What made it worse is that I could tell they were still walking on glass. Acting like I was fine so they didn't have to face the problem, but carefully performing a balancing act to avoid anything that might bring it up.

It made me realize that they had all willingly pushed me away so that they didn't have to help. The only one who didn't run away was the one person who hated me most. I had to admit that maybe he had forgiven me for what had happened.

In my case, the thing that had hurt the most was the divorce. Having to work through the fact that my father never even wanted to look at me again.

At first I blamed my mother. Over time I realized it was both of their faults. She should have realized that she was doing something wrong, and if she did, then she should have faced it and moved on. Instead she blamed herself for destroying my life. She came home depressed and angry every single night.

One day, however, when I was getting ready to start junior high, she came in and said, "I was wrong. It's not me, its men that made it so hard." From there her idea just grew into a fantasy that all men had hurt her, and that they weren't good enough for her.

She might not have fallen so far if my dad hadn't have left. No one has any idea of where he is now or what he's doing. Personally, I'm over it, but he may be the only one able to bring my mother back to her old self.

Thanks to Fuu filling me in whenever we have good fights, I've managed to hear a bit of his childhood as well. She thought I would hate him less if I knew what he went through. 

Seifer was hurt by the fact that his mother left, but he got over it quickly. His father replaced her with a string of maternal girlfriends, who never minded helping Seifer by making lunch or what not. Although, his father's women never really wanted a son, they just did those things to impress his dad. Once they realized Seifer didn't matter to the man, then he no longer mattered to them.

Eventually, he just stopped relying on other people at all. He seemed more hurt by being alone, but had lost all faith in other people at that point. I left and his mother left. Both of us were no longer a part of his life and his father had barely even acknowledged him growing up. He had no one to turn to when he needed help.

He never had any other friends as a kid either. No one wanted to give him a chance because he was always the self-centered jerk of the class. He would always challenge people and when he won, he wasn't nice about it. No one wanted to be around someone that made them feel like crap.

In my case, I originally had no choice. My mother and his mother forced us to play together. Over time I realized that he just wanted to be noticed and that's why he was always trying to be the best. Once I figured that out, I realized that even though he was a little mean, it was just because he wanted to be liked.

Well, until my mother brainwashed me against him.

The tram came to a stop, jerking me out of my thoughts. I got off and headed out for the usual spot.

Even though we hadn't been talking, the three of us ended up going there every day. We would just sit there. Half of the time just doing homework the other half lost in our own little worlds. I hoped today would be a little different. Since I wasn't feeling as bad as I did yesterday, I thought maybe I could talk Olette and Pence into spending some money on ice cream or some other yummy treat. It had been a while since I had enough to get anything on my own and I had a craving for sweets.

Seifer

After Hayner wandered off towards the tram station to go to his little hangout, I got the feeling that he wasn't kidding about being pissed at everyone. I hadn't noticed anything odd, but then again, I literally slept through my day. The teacher didn't even bother waking me up for lunch. Fuu knew that I hadn't slept well from the way I was dragging my feet and slouched on the way to school, but I doubt Rai even noticed. Unlike Fuu, he can be completely oblivious to the most obvious facts.

I decided to wait for Fuu and Rai to come out of the building so we could go do something fun. I had managed to find an odd job a few days ago, doing a little grand standing work for the tourists who had wandered into our little town. I was thinking maybe something sweet. It had been a while since we had a chance to go out, and I wanted to do something that Fuu would like. Woman has a serious sweet tooth.

As Fuu and Rai walked out, she just looked at me and nodded. She knew I wanted to go out. Rai on the other hand just looked at us and said "What, did I miss some sort of secret code handbook or something, yo?"

"No, you didn't miss anything big. It's just that she already knew what I was going to ask. Before you ask what it is, I wanted to take you guys out for a treat."

"Sweet! I like free food, yo. What do you think we should get?"

"I was thinking a bit of ice cream. For some reason I haven't been able to shake the craving and I know that Fuu likes her sweets."

I turned towards the trams and started to lead my group off towards the local ice cream vendor.

"I'm thinking sea salt ice cream, it's been a while since I've had some, yo" Rai was beaming from ear to ear. He liked his sweets almost as much as Fuu.

"Mint" Fuu disliked anything new; she always got mint, chocolate, or vanilla.

"I suppose I have to get sea salt too, so Rai doesn't feel like an odd duck. It's not exactly the most commonly chosen flavor."

Rai perked up when he heard his name and although he didn't say it, I bet he was grateful. He's not used to doing things on his own, he always does whatever he sees Fuu doing, or in most cases, what she tells him to do. They have a give and take relationship, she gives him orders and he follows them…or else.

It's always kind of been that way though. When the two first moved in, I found out that they were living near each other, and that they had always been friends. Their families wanted to leave their hometown, and figured it would be nice to try to move in the same area. They just happened to find two houses right next to each other in a perfect little town. It was almost too good to be true. Fuu and Rai at the time spent most of their days playing together in the yard. Fuu was always a bit of a tomboy, so she never had to deal with the whole 'girls are icky' stage. He just saw her as one of the guys.

Over time though, they began to drift closer and closer.

She never lets him out of her sight, and if anyone other than me or Hayner's little twerps even looks at him, she gets really jealous. She knows when he needs something or wants something. She knows how to help him through difficult situations, and what to say to get him moving again when he's having a rough time. Rai is, unfortunately, so thick I doubt he even noticed how she gets when he talks to other girls, or how much she does for him. It's almost painful to watch.

We decided to go through the tunnels to get back downtown because we were in a good mood and felt like talking. I let Fuu and Rai walk in front of me as we went along, listening to them go back and forth.

"I always love how the tunnels looked, yo. Like something out of a spy movie, all 'secret agent' awesome, ya know?"

"Sneaky." Fuu nodded and crouched a little.

"Like, we have to sneak into the fortress of the evil ice cream hoarding bad guys to release the sweets back into the world, or everyone will forget the awesome of ice cream, yo. We have to be careful not to get caught by the agents of the evil mastermind though, yo. He would move the ice cream off into the distant land of broccoli, ya know?"

"Save." Fuu looked very concerned with the idea of never having ice cream again, almost, in fact, too worried. I knew she loved sweets but the look on her face was one of complete and utter horror.

The rest of the walk was them going back and forth about how they were defeating the enemies, and actually sneaking through the tunnels as I slowed down enough to stay out of their sneak attack on the 'Fortress of Vegetables.'

Hayner

When I got to the usual spot, Pence and Olette were in separate corners with history books propped open while they took notes. They had a routine. They would both write notes, then compare them to the point that their notes were almost identical. After they had a final version, they would let me copy it down, and then I would double back and read the book when I got home. This way, when a big test came up, we were always ready for anything.

They were both lost in their own little worlds, so I decided that I would just read the chapter we had been assigned now, so I had free time to spar with Seifer later. As I sat down and opened my book to start reading, Pence and Olette crossed the room and sat near me to start comparing their notes and merging them. I could almost feel Olette's eyes on me as she wrote and listened. She knew I never studied. Usually I played a game off in the corner, and I don't think she liked the random change. I would have to make sure to continue this new habit so she didn't get too worried about it.

I finished the section and started on the review questions just as Pence and Olette finished the sections they were working on.

Olette stood up and yawned. "I'm tired. Why don't we take a break from studying, we can do it later. I don't really feel like it at the moment."

"Okay, you can come over for dinner, and we can try studying our science then. Hayner, do you want to look at the notes or do you think you have a good grasp on it?"

I turned and looked at Pence, who obviously didn't know how to handle the new change. They knew I studied, but they never had to watch me do it and I think it weirded them out that I suddenly changed tactics.

"I want to look at your notes," I smiled a little sheepishly. "I just wanted to get a head start on it. I usually use your notes as a study guide because you two always hit the big questions that they use on our tests. In fact, I'm ready for a break and a snack, maybe that ice cream place down the street? I can copy them then if you guys want."

Olette seemed happy with the fact that I wanted to do something besides mope, and she agreed before Pence could even start to think about it.

"Yes! I have had a craving for some Sea Salt Ice Cream all week. I don't even remember how I started liking it, but it sounds like just the thing after a nice study session."

As we walked out of the usual spot, I dragged behind a little bit. I wanted Olette in front of me because I knew she was worried and wouldn't let me be if she had anything to say about it. She didn't want to make it obvious that she was watching me, though, so she didn't fight it when I let her pass me on the way out.

She was a sort of replacement mother. She nagged me, watched my grades, and made sure that I dressed like a 'responsible young man.' She even watched to make sure that I got home at a reasonable time. If not, she would spend the rest of the day telling me to be more careful.

I cared for her a lot and didn't want to worry her. I knew that if she found out I was sparring later; she would go over the deep end. I never really had any marks to show off when I sparred with Seifer, but every now and again he would leave a bruise or I would trip and scrape my knee. I didn't really care about a few scrapes and bruises, but if Olette saw, all hell would break loose.

You would think my arm fell off if it had a scrape on it, the way she scrutinized every little inch of it. She feeds me constant supplies of disinfectant and bandages, and always lectures me on being more careful. She would spend hours lecturing me over every little thing so I try my best not to worry her too much, for my sake as much as hers.

As we walked towards Station Plaza to get our ice cream, Pence and Olette started to talk.

"I hear that the next test that we're getting is going to have a question about the founder of Twilight Town for bonus points." Pence is a teacher's pet so he could usually get hints like this one about extra credit assignments and questions.

"Well, we should stop by the library before we go home tonight to make sure that we know whatever it will be about. The history book we have now only mentions her; we don't really get any details." Olette looked pretty excited about getting the hint.

"We can go through the book when you come over later." Pence put his hands behind his head and gave her a big smile.

He loved helping her out.

He would do things like taking her lunch, or even making her dinner.

They also went out to do things all of the time. They once went to see the same movie three times because she liked it so much. He worked odd jobs almost constantly that week.

He never really admitted how he felt; he just tried his best to be with her whenever he could. He probably thought she didn't feel the same way, but she tried just as hard to spend time with him. It was hard to watch them dance around each other all the time.

As we wandered through the streets, slowly making our way to the ice cream shop, I let my mind wander as well.

Life was good. I didn't want to ruin it by thinking about some of the bad things going on. Like my mom, or the awful empty feeling I get all the time.

I just wanted to lose myself in the moment, acting like a carefree teen on a beautiful night.


	3. Chapter 3

Seifer

Walking through the tunnels was a nice break from the sun. Don't get me wrong, twilight is pretty, but after a while you start missing colors, literally any colors. That is why I like them best. It's just a break from the red-orange hues. Rai obviously likes them because no one ever really comes down here, so if he wants to goof off then there isn't anyone around to judge him. Fuu, as far as I can tell, just likes the fact that Rai likes them.

As we came out of the tunnels, I could see the ice cream shop, in all of its glory, waiting for us. I could feel my mouth begin to water. It had been a while since I had a chance to do anything special like this. Working for fun was something I rarely did, since I had to work to pay my rent as well.

"Tired?" Fuu was eyeing me as I thought about the upcoming work week.

"I just a have a lot of extra work this week. It's part of the reason I could do this." I leaned back and looked at the sky. "It would be nice to get a break but when they said they needed extra help I just jumped up and volunteered myself without a second thought." I laughed thinking about how I literally got up so fast that my chair flew backwards, hitting one of the other staff members.

"I'm sorry, yo. I know you have a hard time but we can't really help you out, Seifer." Rai knows how I feel, but I decided to repeat it to make sure he didn't mope. There was enough of that lately with Hayner and his group.

"It's okay, Rai. I wouldn't let you even if you could. It's a matter of pride. I can stand on my own two feet and I don't want anyone helping me out. I don't want to have to lean on other people unless I have no other choice in the matter." I gave him my most serious look to make sure he got the point, and he did.

"Proud." Fuu actually started to tear up. Back when we first met, I would have rather died then accept help. I still am really, but if I say that I would ask when I needed it, Fuu stays off my back.

We had walked up to the front of the counter by this point, and Rai was first in line. He brought the phrase 'kid in a candy shop' to mind. Once we even took him to the local candy shop. We literally had to drag him out so we could go back home.

"I want a sea salt ice cream please!" He could barely stand still as the clerk turned around to grab some.

"Too much." Fuu sighed and put her hand on her forehead.

She knew it was going to take at least a couple of hours to get him to calm back down for the day. I had to admit that I felt a little sorry for the extra work I was giving her, but I wanted to do something different, and this was the first thing that had popped into mind.

Then it was her turn, the clerk didn't even bother asking he just turned around and grabbed a scoop. The best part about the whole thing was that since Fuu was a creature of habit he could help her with ease. First he pointed to the vanilla, she shook her head, then to chocolate, again no. Instead of pointing at mint he just started to scoop it up. In all of the years she's been in town she has never gotten anything else from the shop. When I got to the front of the line the clerk didn't even bother asking. He knew that if Fuu didn't get what Rai did, that I would get what he did to make him feel more comfortable.

Just as we were about to sit down, we heard footsteps coming from the other end of the store. I looked up to see Hayner listening to Pence and Olette talk about the founder of Twilight Town.

I actually knew them well enough to know that it was going to be an extra credit question later. Experience has taught me that if it isn't a big deal, but those three are studying it, then one of them got the teacher to tell them about it.

Even though we don't actually have all the same classes, the student body is actually small enough for us to have the same teachers. This is awesome because we can all study together, even if we don't share the same homeroom or class time. Rai is all alone in his classes, whereas Fuu and I are together for most of our classes. With everyone sharing the same courses we can still share notes and study together.

"I can't wait! I haven't had ice cream in ages. I think I'm going to get the sea salt kind." Olette was probably happier about the fact that Hayner wasn't collapsed somewhere in their little hangout, than about the food.

"I just can't believe you want sea salt ice cream. I don't want anything to do with the stuff." Pence was the kind of person who would like something for a week or two, then hate it with all of his being the next week. This week he seemed to hate anything that wasn't chocolate or peanut butter.

"It's not so bad, you just need to get used to it first. I never really liked it either, but then…" Hayner just looked really confused and stopped.

"Then what, Hayner? Someone made you eat it right, and then you got used to it?" Olette was staring at him

"Yeah, but it wasn't you, and you're the only one I know who eats this stuff too." Hayner shook his head "I'm not going to let it bother me. Let's just get our ice cream and sit down."

As the three of them started to walk toward the counter, Hayner turned around to look over the empty tables and noticed me sitting there with Fuu and Rai. His mouth kind of dropped and he looked a little nervous for some reason. I couldn't help myself. I gave him one of my signature smirks and a smart ass wave. He turned around quickly and got ready to order. He probably thought there was no point in fighting the fact that I was here. I had to stop and think to myself, _How can I have some fun with this?_

Hayner

I can't believe they are here at the same time as us. If he says anything about our spar later, I'm going to have an angry Olette keeping tabs on me for the rest of the night, **after** she skins me alive, and spends the day yelling at me. I tried to act calm, but ended up fidgeting around while Olette and Pence made their way to the counter.

Olette went up first. "I would like some sea salt ice cream, please."

The vendor turned around and grabbed it for her. Pence went up next, he stared at the board for a few minutes chewing over all of the options and eventually settled on the peanut butter truffle with caramel drizzle on top.

When I got to the counter the clerk looked a little lost.

"Weren't there four of you?"

We all tensed up a little.

"Nope, it's always just been the three of us sir." I gave him a quick shrug. "Maybe we came in with someone last time. It has been a while since we were here, so who knows?"

He seemed to like that idea, better than the idea of making a mistake. He rarely messed up.

"Well, either way, I think I would like a sea salt ice cream as well." I just wanted to go sit down and pretend he hadn't asked about the other person.

Pence wandered off to find a seat and call us from the other side of the room.

"I want to sit by the window where we can see the clock tower!"

Pence had this fantasy of sitting up there, looking down at the whole town, but we had never been able to find a way up on our own.

"Alright, but we are not going to try to go up there again. Last time we tried we didn't find any way up, and spent the entire night freezing our butts off." Olette stood her ground and eyed pence.

Olette had actually been the only one not smart enough to bring her jacket, and when it started to cool off, Pence and I didn't notice. She froze all night without saying a word because she wanted to help Pence, and she knew he would stop if she said anything.

"Aww, Olette, you know how much I want to go up there." Pence looked a little upset, but he had ice cream so I knew he would get over it quickly.

I took my ice cream and paid the clerk, making sure to thank him before we sat down at the table furthest from Seifer's. I was never more thankful for being so far from someone in my life. Unfortunately, we were close to the door, so if we didn't finish first, I would have to deal with the awkwardness.

"Well, there could be worse things than that for his dream. He could dream of eating all of the ice cream in the world." Olette looked at me and I couldn't tell if she was worried about me or actually considering the possibility of that being his future goal.

"Let's not give him any ideas we would regret later." Olette eyed me from the other side of the table.

She looked a little sick. I can imagine that she got a very disturbing mental image of Pence trying to live out that dream.

"I don't think I could even try." Pence even looked a little green as well.

"Are you enjoying yourself, lamer?" Seifer's self-satisfied face popped into mind before I even turned around. Just like the one he gave me when he noticed that I had seen him. The jerk probably wanted to come over here just to pick a fight.

"It would be much more pleasant without the stink of a giant ape standing behind me. Oh, wait, I suppose that would be you." I turned around to see Seifer staring me down. I had to laugh a little at my own joke. He, on the other hand, did not look as impressed as I was.

"Let's see if you say that later. You're going to wish you had never opened your mouth when I'm wiping the floor with you in the commons."

Seifer wasn't really fazed by my insult judging by the look on his face so I don't even know why he .

I was so focused on the idea of handing Seifer's ass to him, that I didn't notice Olette standing up at the other end of the table, turning red. Not like a gentle tinge of red, but a violent, deep red. When I turned around, I shrank back from the image in front of me, more out of shock then fear. I swear I could almost see her hair starting to defy gravity. The worst part about it was she was _smiling_.

"I see you're going to play later. You should be careful you know how much I worry about you. Please try to not get hurt too badly." She was taking deep breaths trying not to make too much of a scene but judging by the fact that her face was still flushed she was ready to kill me. She then calmly grabbed Pence by the back of the shirt and literally dragged him out of the shop. I watched them fade off as she marched down the street picking up pace her, the further she got from the store. By the time I couldn't see her anymore she was almost running.

All things considered, I suppose I got off easy. Although, this meant she might be back later to try to kill me; I would have to make a mental note to lock my window before I went to sleep.

Seifer

I never really got bothered by what he said, but I can't let people walk all over me. How am I supposed to enforce justice if people think they can talk back to me like that? I enjoyed the idea of Olette ripping him to pieces as I walked towards the square where we hold the struggle. Just before I got there, however, I heard a strange dragging noise coming from behind me, and what sounded like someone trying to break free. A chill went down my spine. What kind of person drags someone off of the street at a time like this? What kind of murderous maniac could be behind me?

Fuu and Rai had gone home. They were getting ready for a big test tomorrow and wanted to study. I promised Hayner a match, and even if he didn't show up, I wanted it to be said that I waited for him.

The sound started to get louder, and the feeling of dread started to build then out of nowhere, Olette, dragging Pence in tow, goes right through me. Not around, but through, as in she shoved me out of the way so hard I actually hit a building nearby. Normally, I would have stopped her, but from the look on her face, a murderer dragging someone off of the street in broad daylight was not too far off the mark.

I walked over to my usual corner and leaned against the wall. Trying to remember the last struggle I was in. I had been competing with Vivi, but he wasn't too sure about winning. Hayner was in the roster along with the current reigning champion, Setzer. For some reason I can swear Vivi actually beat Setzer. Then again though, I had proof that he didn't, the winners name for each struggle was on display next to the match type on a board where we signed up for our matches, and it clearly said Setzer had won last year's tournament.

I had a flash back of Vivi standing in the middle of the stage laughing manically and a dark shadow pouring out of his body like a fog. It was actually unnerving. I started to lose track of the time as I thought back to the previous struggle and waited for my, hopefully still capable, opponent.

Hayner

I could almost see her footprints in the floor as I stood up to leave. If I was lucky, Pence, would calm her back down before the day was over, but I didn't really see that happening.

I decided that I would rather risk the bright sunny path instead of the dark scary looking one, even if it does have a pretty mansion at the end, so to speak. Beating up Seifer to get rid of the anger I had would make me feel good again. A much nicer end result if I do say so myself. Although if I took the easy way out I would have to brave the nightmare that is Olette, and at the end of that path I would find a beast. I decided that the relentless teasing from Seifer was going to be as much of a pain as Olette's nagging. I figured it would be easier to just go ahead and take on Seifer anyway, especially since I'm the one who challenged him.

I started off toward the square, hoping that Seifer would be waiting for me. I was pretty sure he would be there though. His pride wouldn't let him live it down if he back down from a challenge. The lights were starting to come on, which considering it was always twilight was more of a formality then a necessity. I was surprised the lights were still standing, considering how angry Olette was when she left.

When I got to the square, Seifer was waiting in his usual corner staring at the sky.

"Hey, Seifer, are we going to do this or not?" He looked down; he probably didn't realize that I had walked into the square.

"How about not? You seem to be in enough trouble as it is, and I don't want a hospital visit on my conscious."

I couldn't help but laugh. As if he cared. When he looked down at me though, I could tell he was being serious.

"I suppose it is a little better than being torn apart right now, but not by much." Seifer just dropped down on to the pavement, and looked at the stars.

"You ever have a dream, lamer?" Seifer sounded serious, so I decided to take the question seriously.

"Sure I do, but what about you. Is there anything you want, Seifer?" I heard him sigh.

"I want to be a knight like in the movies. Like the one who protects the almighty sorceress that wants to save the world." I started to laugh.

"You mean like from that old movie with the sorceress who bends time to try to destroy all life?"

Seifer looked pissed at the fact that I had laughed.

"Yep. I would even use the same cool fighting pose as him." He looked pretty excited at the idea of saving the world. I had honestly never thought about Seifer having dreams of any kind, he just seemed like a stuck up prick most of the time.

"Well, since you told me your dream, I guess I have to tell you mine, too." Seifer nodded. "My dream is to wield my heart in an effort to save our world."

Now Seifer started to laugh.

"You don't think you can use your heart to fix a broken world do you?"

I sighed. "I can use my brain to find a way to be able to help people who have lives as shitty as ours. My heart is what's going to help me get them through the rough patches. Like a blade cutting down the bullshit that surrounds their everyday lives. Get it?"

"Oh how poetic of you, Lamer." Seifer had that self-satisfied smirk on his face that told me it was probably a good time to go home.

I got up brushed the grass off of myself and started to walk home. I made sure to wave a quick goodbye to Seifer, who was still lying on the ground, staring at the sky.

"See ya, Sir Knight."

I wandered through the streets on the way home, hoping that Olette and my mother would both be in bed by the time I got back.

I started to think of the different ways that today could have happened. If Olette hadn't found out about the fight, I never would have been able to talk with Seifer. If I hadn't tried acting like everything was fine, then I wouldn't have challenged him to begin with. If we hadn't gone for ice cream, I never would have known that they liked it too.

When I got home I thought for sure I was safe but Olette came up behind me "Let me make sure he didn't hurt you." She rushed in like a vulture finding its prey.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, we didn't fight at all. He must have seen you on your way home because he took pity on me." Olette blushed and turned a little.

"I may have passed by him, but I'm not entirely sure." From the way she was avoiding even looking in my direction; I would say she did, and that she knew exactly whether or not she had run into him.

"Well, anyway, since I didn't fight, am I forgiven now?" Luckily he hadn't said yes to the fight or I might have been in for it. Olette turned back towards me.

"Only if you promise to at least give me two days warning, before you try to fight. I won't say you can't fight, because as much as I hate it, you have no one else to spar with for the struggle competition. I also admit that it is a tradition of the community, so I can't entirely say no. I don't like it, though I believe it's barbaric."

Olette looked a little upset but I had to admit she was trying really hard to be fair. She and Pence must have had a really long talk.

"I promise, Olette." With that she smiled nodded and started to walk home.

"Sleep tight, Hayner. By the way, your mother went to bed an hour ago."

When I finally got into my room and crawled into bed, I thought to the day before everything had taken a quick turn for the better, and slowly started to drift off.


	4. Chapter 4

Seifer

My alarm started to go off, I hate my alarm. If I didn't need the damn thing I would have thrown it out of the window a longtime ago. I rolled over to get ready to start my day. I got out of bed and took a quick shower to try to wake myself up a little more.

There was a preliminary struggle match starting today, and I wanted to be ready for it. In the two days I didn't have school, I had to get at least 20 or 30 hours of work in to make the rent. Usually I worked as a mail carrier.

This week was going to be harder than usual though because I had offered to take on two extra shifts. We had hired a new guy but he didn't even last a week before he quit. Apparently he wasn't used to being worked so hard. Everything is mapped out. Working as a delivery guy is the hard part.

I worked every part of that building off and on. I was one of the only people who had been there long enough to know all of the areas we had.

I finally finished my workout, and then poured my breakfast into the only clean bowl I had left. I started to choke down my breakfast while I looked around my apartment. It was a disaster like every other Saturday.

I started to sort through my clothes from the wee, and then I did the dishes, and cleaned the floors. My apartment is a studio apartment which means it's just one giant room, so it wasn't hard to clean it up. Although the place definitely isn't a lady-killer, it's mine.

After it was cleaned up properly, I sat down on my bed. I enjoyed the fact that it was a little less bachelor-pad.

I had a little while before I had to go to work, so I decided to take a nap. I figured it would help get me through the extra shifts this weekend.

I laid down, and closed my eyes. I tried to keep my mind blank so I could sleep, but thoughts of the match kept creeping back into focus.

_Hopefully the struggle match is a little more memorable than it was last year. _

Hayner

I hate weekends.

In Twilight Town, there are two types of people. You have the people who do clubs, or extra activities, and then you have the ones who work.

Olette for example had been studying magic theory with Vivi and his grandfather. I liked the idea of being able to summon a fireball out of thin air, but there's a lot more to it than just saying 'fire'. After one of the Magic Theory lessons, I got too bored to stay for another.

Pence had picked up an easy job a long time ago down at the tram station, managing all of the jobs. He simply had to post the jobs, and alert the poster when someone had come along to take them. Normally, I would just grandstand for some munny, but today there weren't enough people.

Pence was sitting at his post behind the counter when I walked up.

"Looking for a quick job, Hayner?"

"Yeah, something easy if you don't mind. I might come back later for another one but for now I just want to get started."

He handed me a job for posting some ads for a local band that would be playing downtown later.

"Does this job look easy enough? These people even use the kind of posters that already have glue on them so all you have to do is peel the backing off of them, and slap them on a wall." He slapped the back of the board like he was throwing up a poster, and smiled.

"Sure, sounds like a good way to start my workday." I hated working, but I wanted to kill some time before the struggle matches started later that day. Sitting still was not an option. I always got a huge boost of energy on the first day of match ups.

"I'll see you later." I waved to Pence, and started to walk towards the square to talk to the event manager.

When I got to the square there was a woman with a clipboard in one hand, and a pen in the other, talking into a wireless headset. She was waiting where the job description said she would be.

"Hi there, I'm Hayner. Pence over at the station should have called ahead to let you know that I was taking the job you requested?"

"Oh, yes." She turned around, and pulled a big box out from behind her. "We want you to get these up throughout the area. We want it done quickly, so if your back here in a half hour or less, with all of the posters hung up, you'll get a bonus."

"Yes, ma'am, I will do my best." I gave her my best smile grabbed a stack of papers from the box, and ran out as fast as I could.

I started throwing them on every light pole I could find. After a little while, I went back to grab another stack, making sure to double check how much I had left.I ran back out, and started to try to get them on the walls people would see on the lower part of the station square. Including by the desk Pence was at.

"Having fun? I should have warned you that she doesn't mess around when it comes to getting things done." He looked rather pleased with the fact that I was literally sprinting back and forth, because I wanted to get the posters up quick enough to please the woman.

"I hate you so much right now. You set me up didn't you?" I could barely breathe. Luckily, this was the last leg.

I ran back to grab the last stack, and started to put them on the last section of the station.

I ran so fast I could barely breathe. When I got back, the woman looked down her nose at me. "I suppose you did alright. You managed within the time, but I would prefer you don't work for us again in the future. Your work took too long for my tastes."

I wanted to be angry, but at that point I was lying on the ground gasping for air like a fish out of water. Although, I did have enough energy to think about how she should have at least been a little more grateful.

Seifer

I rolled over, and eyed my clock. I still had about ten minutes before I was supposed to start getting ready. I chose to spend them staring at the clock, as if it would slow time down. Since it didn't work, I was forced to get up and throw my uniform on for the day. I stretched, and let out a big yawn.

Today, I was in charge of sorting mail for the first shift. Even though I had picked up extra shifts, my manager set it up so that I would be able to participate in the preliminary match up ranking for the struggle.

I headed out to the post office, making sure to enjoy the quiet streets on my way to work. The only upside to having to be up this early, is that most people are relaxing at home still. I wish I could have slept in but there was a lot to be done today. My boss and I had an agreement that if I took the morning shift she would allow me to take a break to participate in the struggle.

When I got to work, I punched in, and headed straight for the table I was going to be stuck behind for the next couple of hours. I sighed, stretched my hands, and began sorting out the mail.

Hayner

After a good half hour of recovery time, I decided that I was done work for now. That woman had worked me into the ground. I started to grind my teeth when I thought about how rude she was.

I got up of off the bench I had been resting on, and went over to the booth to talk to Pence. "Hey dude, when do you get to take your break today?"

Pence leaned against the counter, and thought for a second. "I guess I can take it soon. Most of the jobs we had this morning have already been done, and I could use a good cup of java."

I slouched my shoulders, and put on my most miserable expression. It was time for payback "Okay, I want to go with you since I'm a little tired out from that job."

Pence saw how worn out I looked. Although, he knew me well enough by now to know that I wasn't as tired as I looked. That job was rough, but not _that _hard.

"Well, if it'll make you feel better, I maybe possibly might be able to buy you a cup."

I gave him a quick smile. "I knew you wouldn't let me down, buddy." I patted him on the back, and turned around. "I'm going to be waiting on the bench just around the corner for you."

"I'll be there in a minute."

I could hear the papers in the booth being moved around and restacked. He kept the booth pretty well organized, most of the other workers would just pile things where ever, but Pence could always find a particular type of job within seconds.

I sat down, and started to think about what kind of coffee I would get. I was in the mood for something sweet, but there was a good chance that the extra kick could help in the struggle match-up.

"Alright, let's go before I regret offering to pay for your drink too much more."

Pence got one break in the middle of his day. Once the morning jobs were handled, he would get another round of jobs if there were anymore. Most of the time it was first come first serve though. The jobs he got at night were harder, and there were never nearly as many as you would find in the morning.

I got up and stretched a little. "What kind of coffee are you getting today?"

He just shrugged. "I heard they have a chocolate truffle flavor in right now."

"Sounds really good. I guess that's what I'll get, too" We started to walk towards the shop, yawning and rubbing our eyes as we went along.

"So I hear they want to try a new system for struggle matches this year." Pence usually got a little warning when the city council changed things up, since he was a city worker.

"Really? How are they going to change it?" I liked the way the system was. It worked fine so far.

"No clue. There's going to be an orientation before it all starts, so you can find out then."

When we got to the counter, Pence ordered the drinks, and paid for them.

"Let's sit over there" He pointed to a table on the outer edge, where you could look at the trams as they went under the overpass.

"Looks like a good enough spot. There isn't a whole lot going on right now, besides the trams anyways." We started to talk about work, and school enjoying the nice break from our days.

Seifer

I got up and walked around a little.

I had been sorting letters for about four hours now, and my legs were starting to get stiff. I was almost done with the sorting from this morning's pick up. When I finished with that, I would have a little time until I had to be at the orientation meeting.

The city council had decided to try to make it a little fairer for players who had less experience. The orientation was going to explain what they were hoping to do.

The last letter fell into its bin, and I got up to leave. My manager walked in and flagged me down.

"You need to try to be back here as soon as possible. I set it up so you would have plenty of time to participate, but if you can manage to get back here a little earlier than the beginning of your shift, that would be great." She retreated back into her office before I had a chance to speak, so I just shrugged it off, and headed out.

I was pretty excited about the struggle. The town only had a few a year, and there weren't a whole lot of serious competitors. This year though, we had a wave of people from out of town joining in. The event was set up to take a few days, instead of happening in one fell swoop, because of how many new people we had this year.

As I walked towards the trams commons, I could see people starting to gather from all over town. Even the townspeople tried to be at the start of the contest, since it was such a big sport in town. In fact, some people even got into fights themselves over their favorite competitors. Of course, everyone had a favorite in mind, but with all of the new people, they wanted a chance to judge them for themselves.

Hayner was standing in line to register, and I walked up to wait in line with him.

"Ready for another year of staring at me from the ground, lamer?"

"You wish, Seifer. This year you're going down."

I laughed at the thought of him winning. "Let's see if you can put your munny where your mouth is."

Hayner wasn't the strongest person entering. though. Setzer had already taken his place on the other side of the board. Vivi was standing next to him, and then there was some new guy. He looked pretty confident, he had a pretty goofy grin on his face, but he looked like he was going to be a challenge. Just from the way he held himself, I could tell he knew what he was doing.

Once everyone had registered, the MC got up on a pedestal in front of the crowd to go over the rules.

"Everyone here is going to pick a bat off of the rack in the corner of the commons, and stand against one opponent. There is no magic allowed in a match. Anyone who uses magic, is removed from the competition. Each person will be given a special vest with one hundred orbs, these orbs fall off when the wearer is struck. This year, we have decided to install a new system that will replace the random matchups. There will be practice bouts, where we will grade the fighters based on damage dealt, orbs collected, and lastly, style. Those points will allow us to pit the more experienced players against each other, and also give the newer players a chance to improve. The points will be taken from three different practice bouts, and averaged, that way we know that the grading is fair. Now, if no one has any other questions, I would like the competitors to grab their struggle bats and vests. Then, they are to line up in two smaller lines, facing each other."

We all started walking forward to grab a vest from the MC and a bat from the racks. Most of the new guys started to stretch and warm up, getting ready for the fights to come.

Once we had faced each other the MC gave us our orbs, and we began to attach them. After all of the orbs were passed out, he went back and gave us all numbers. That would allow them to randomly match players up for the grading system. Then he wrote the matches up on the board.

"We are going to have three judges each, grading different battles at the same time." He pointed to people set up at a table behind him. "Each challenger is going to be graded by a judge. Each judge will have their own category they're grading on. We aren't going to inform you which category they have been assigned. That way that way it can be assumed that you are giving it your best."

I looked over to see how Hayner was taking the new rules; he looked like he couldn't have cared less. He was stretching a little, too.

When I looked at the board, I realized we started under the same judge.

"Competitors who are not being graded are allowed to watch matches, but are asked to keep their comments to themselves. Interfering with matches will result in expulsion from the competition. Now we ask that you begin to get into your groups, and get to know each other a bit before the fighting begins." The event was meant to be friendly, so most players actually took the advice and began to talk amongst themselves.

Hayner made a beeline for me. "Promise me you'll try your best to make it to the final match so I can kick your butt this year."

"In your dreams. You've never beaten me before in an official match, and I won't let it happen now." I gave him my smirk for good measure, and turned around to walk away.

"Just be careful. I can't quite explain it, but I have a bad feeling about one of the fighters. Just looking at him gives me the creeps, and you're the first one he's up against."

"Don't worry about me, lamer. Of all the people here, you should know better than anyone I can handle myself."

I looked over my shoulder at him. He actually looked worried for me. I know Hayner well enough to trust in his ability to measure an opponent. He has a knack for finding weak points, and knew when he was in for a rough match.

I scanned the crowd we were in real quick but the only person who raised a red flag didn't look strong, just out of place. He had a hood pulled up, and was wearing an odd jacket that hid his body and face from view.

As the people started to clear the way for the match to begin, spirits were high.

?

I looked around. I hadn't been in Twilight Town for quite a while. Too long, in fact, most of the people here didn't even seem to remember me. The last time I was here, I had left almost as quickly as I came. I had come back because I heard about the struggle, and wanted to do something fun. Everything I had done lately was too serious. I walked into the commons, and had signed up, not knowing the Hayner was entering.

I was glad though. There was nothing quite as fun as doing something with a friend, even if that friend had forgotten you. After all, anyone can touch your heart, but a friend stays with you and gives you strength.

I looked over my shoulder at the people gathered behind us. I felt like I was ready for the fights to come, no matter how tough. My heart, after all, was as strong as they came; I knew that, as long as I had the people I cared about, there was no way I would lose!


	5. Chapter 5

Sora

I was up first. I had to play around a bit while I waited for the actual match to start up. The bats were lighter than I had imagined. My Keyblade could be light, but most of the time it was pretty heavy so using the little foam bat would take a lot of getting used to. I rolled a bit, jumped, and swung the bat trying to get a feel for how it would work.

The other boy getting ready for the match was really young. He had a blue coat that seemed a little too big for him and a big pointy hat. He kept re-adjusting it as he practiced on the other end of the groups match space. I could tell that he was having a good time because whenever he would get a good swing, he would laugh a little bit, excitedly trying to re-create the good swing. Obviously he didn't get to do this kind of thing very often.

The judge stepped into the middle of the match zone and got ready to talk. "Make sure you're both playing fair. Don't hold back for the other person's sake. It's just a game, and holding back could severely alter your starting position to a place that it shouldn't be."

She looked at me knowingly. I was going to have to try not to hold back. The little boy was being judged too, and if he got a lot of hits in because I felt bad, I would have made it worse for him in the long run.

The judge stepped off to the side raised her hand, and shouted, "Match one; Vivi versus Sora! Begin!"

The little boy charged in screaming, and swinging his bat. He jumped at me when he got close enough to reach. I jumped to the side, and swung my bat at his chest hitting him and sending orbs flying everywhere. I turned to start picking them up. and felt a soft blow to the back. I could tell he hit me because my orbs had gotten mixed in with his.

He ran trying to get close to me and pick up as many orbs as he could. I decided that charging, and trying to get a few more hits in, would probably be best. I ran towards him stopping only to pick up some of the orbs as I passed them.

He swung when he realized how close I had gotten. I hit his bat with mine, and used the momentum and shock to get a good hit in on his chest again. His orbs were pretty much gone at this point, so I turned, being careful not to let him get another surprise hit in, and ran for the scattered goodies.

The judge shouted, and raised her hand. "Match end! Will you two please come here and let me count the orbs you collected? Also, I would like you to get to know each other, and watch some matches before you move on to the next round." The matches were supposed to be fun so it was best for people to do things like chatting before and after a match so that they could make new friends, and so the competition was always a friendly one.

I nodded in agreement and looked over at the little boy. He seemed like he had fun, and excited to get out of the ring so that others could have fun as well. He was hopping from foot to foot when I sat down to talk to him.

Seifer

The last match wasn't really that entertaining. The older boy, Sora, had held back a little or he didn't know how to use the bat properly. Vivi wasn't a very good fighter. Most people beat him down into the ground. He was always happy just to play though. The judges always told people that they should be more like him, and enjoy the sport just for the fun, not for the glory.

I never really bought into all of that. People often put everything they had into the struggle matches. It didn't matter why they were there, they all played for glory. I looked at the other end of the match zone, and noticed that I had gotten one of the creepy-hood guys. There were a lot of them in the crowd. Hopefully they weren't a gang or anything or I would have my work cut out for me as the Disciplinary Squad leader.

The guy was swinging the bat, but I could tell he had no idea what he was doing. His swings were weak and clumsy, anyone could get up close, and deal a major blow. I swung my bat a little bit too, but I could tell that I would be able to handle the match, no matter what came my way.

The judge stepped forward and looked at us both. "You both know the rules. I would like to remind everyone that physical contact is only allowed with the bats. Any actual injuries disqualify you from the main matches."

She stepped back off onto the edge of the crowd and raise her hand. "Match begin! Seifer versus the Black Waltz."

The boy stepped in and raised the bat up into an attack position. His movements seemed jerky, and kind of off. I ran in making sure to stay clear of his sides.

I didn't know what to expect from this guy something was definitely wrong with him. He moved toward a little, but just like that I couldn't follow him. One second he was in front of me and the next, he was behind me, hitting me, and running away again. He didn't even try to pick up any of the orbs. He just put some distance in between us and stood there twitching on the other end of the battle area.

I ran in and grabbed the orbs that he had gotten off of me. He moved, and this time I swung around and held my bat up to block. His bat made contact with mine, and I used the chance to swing at his back. I made contact and a ton of his orbs went flying off. He jumped forward, and threw his bat off to the side, punching me in the gut and knocking the wind out of me. It wasn't a strong enough blow to get me on the floor, but it was definitely stronger than anything I thought he could do. The judge ran in and pulled us apart; as she started to scold him. He just glared at me with his weird yellow eyes.

Hayner

The match took such a strange turn. The boy who had gotten me worried earlier, had actually gone out of his way to hit Seifer _after_ being warned that he wasn't allowed to hit other competitors. The other kids who wore those big jackets that had hidden their faces were laughing and talking amongst themselves. They started to spread out among the crowd. For some reason that made my stomach drop.

The judge had just finished scolding the boy who had hit Seifer, and started to make her way to the edge of the crowd again. The boy started to laugh, and Seifer turned to start walking out of the match area.

The world seemed to slow down then. The boys, who had spread out amongst the crowd, all began to chant, and I could see black smoke coming off of the boy in the center of the ring. He raised his hand like it was a sword and started to rush Seifer. I panicked and charged in to get to Seifer first, hoping I could stop whatever was about to happen.

Screaming Seifer's name at the top of my lungs, as I sprinted towards him, I knocked him over just in time to feel a cold hand hit my back, and grip at my heart. It felt like it was trying to pull it right out of me. I felt weak, and collapsed just as the boy who had fought the first round charged in. The world began to fade off, and the last thing I could see was a key shimmering out of thin air into his hand.

Sora

I quickly dealt with the heartless that had attacked Seifer, and turned to Hayner. Using a healing spell wouldn't help him too much, but I had to try anyways. "Cura!" He didn't respond so I tried a potion, then a remedy.

I couldn't help but feel a little guilty; I had been doing this long enough that I should have picked up what he was up against from the movement pattern, and the eyes. Hayner was probably going to make a full recovery though, so at least there wasn't a lot of harm done.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the boys in the crowd who had been chanting, released a barrage of spells hitting several of the people who had been watching the matches. I looked down to see Seifer staring in shock.

"Make sure you get him some help, you at least owe him that. I don't think that you would have survived that blow if he hadn't pushed you out of the way." I looked over to Seifer and could tell from the look on his face that he was as worried as I was.

Seifer looked lost, but he slowly picked up Hayner and started to carry him out of the square. I turned to the injured and panicked crowd. I had my work cut out for me.

Seifer

He jumped in at the last second and took the blow. Sora said it would have killed me. I didn't even doubt it.

That boy had no idea what he was doing with a bat, but that strange sword seemed to fit him just fine. He took out that strange opponent in less than a minute.

I carried Hayner off towards the hospital, trying not to think about the fact that the boy that I hated most, being the one to react first and save my life. I shook myself from my thoughts just in time to see the hospital, come into view.

I was standing there holding him, cradling him in my arms. Hayner would have laughed if he could see us I could almost guarantee it. The doctors noticed me as soon as I got through the door and rushed over with a gurney.

"You saw what happened to the boy here?"

I nodded. "He was hit from behind. Someone healed him up, but he hasn't woken up yet, so I wanted to bring him here in case it was something major."

The doctor gave him a quick once over and shook her head. "I hope you don't think he's getting up anytime soon. It looks like he's in a coma of some sort."

I followed them to the room that they had decided to put Hayner in.

"Is it okay if I stay here? He's hurt because he pushed me out of the way. I figure the least I could do is stay here with him."

The doctor smiled. "You can if you'd like. Just tell the nurses that you're family of some sort and don't mention me. You never talked to me okay?"

"If you're hungry we have some hot dogs in the hospital cafeteria that you can buy. I hear they're actually pretty good!" She waved and walked off.

I looked down at Hayner; he seemed so peaceful almost like he was asleep. I began to drift off in a chair that was off to the side of the room, watching him until the world faded off and I feel asleep.

Hayner

I couldn't see anything at all. My body felt weightless, and I could feel my heart trying to pull out still. I heard muffled voices in the background. Seifer's was easy to pick out, but there were a bunch that I didn't recognize. I looked around; I was in a black emptiness floating with a glowing heart above me. I reached out, and brushed my hand against the heart. It was strange when I touched, the sensation was mimicked in my chest, like the heart floating in the air was my own. I grabbed it and hugged it close to me, and just stayed floating in the darkness.


End file.
